Moab
Moab is a city in Grand County, Utah, in eastern Utah, in the western United States. It is 233 miles south-east of Salt Lake City and 354 miles west of Denver, Colorado, about 30 miles south of Interstate 70 at the intersection of U.S. Route 191 and Utah State Route 128. The population was 4,779 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Grand County. Moab hosts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, which are located close by. The town is also a popular base for mountain bikers, who come to ride the extensive network of trails, including the famed Slickrock Trail, and off-roaders who come for the annual Moab Jeep Safari. History The Biblical name Moab refers to an area of land located on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Some historians believe that the city in Utah came to use this name because of William Pierce, the first postmaster, believing that the biblical Moab and this part of Utah were both "the far country".Grand Memories. Pub by Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. Pub Date: 1972. Chapter: Moab. Edition: Second Some of the settlers to the area attempted to change the city's name because in the Christian Bible, Moabites are demeaned as incestuous and idolatrous. One petition in 1890 had 59 signatures and requested a name change to Vina. Another effort attempted to change the name to Uvadila. During the 1800s, the area around what is now Moab served as the Colorado River crossing along the Old Spanish Trail. Mormon settlers attempted to establish a trading fort at the river crossing called "Elk Mountain Mission" in 1855 to trade with travellers attempting to cross the river. Later that year and after repeated Indian attacks, the fort was abandoned. A new round of settlers established a permanent settlement in 1878. Moab was incorporated as a town on December 20, 1920. In 1883 the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad main line was constructed across eastern Utah. The rail line did not pass through Moab, instead passing through the towns of Thompson Springs and Cisco, forty miles to the north.Edwards, Robert W. Utah Ghost Rails. Pub by Western Epics. ISBN 0-914740-34-2. Pages 188-194 Later, other places to cross the Colorado River were constructed, such as Lee's Ferry, Navajo Bridge and Hover Dam. These changes shifted the trade routes away from Moab. Moab farmers and merchants had to adapt from trading with passing travellers to shipping their goods to distant markets. Soon Moab's origins as one of the few natural crossings of the Colorado River were forgotten. Nevertheless, the U.S. military deemed the bridge over the Colorado River at Moab important enough to place it under guard as late as World War II. Moab's economy was originally based on agriculture, but gradually shifted to mining. Uranium and vanadium were discovered in the area in the 1910s and 1920s. Potash and manganese came next, then oil and gas were discovered. In the 1950s Moab became the so-called "Uranium Capital of the World" after geologist Charles Steen found a rich deposit of uranium ore south of the city. This discovery coincided with the advent of the era of nuclear weapons and nuclear power in the United States, and Moab's boom years began. The city population grew nearly 500% over the next few years, bringing the population to near 6,000 people. The explosion in population lead to a great deal of construction of both homes and schools. Charles Steen donated a great deal of money and land to create new houses and churches for the people of Moab. With the winding down of the Cold War, Moab's uranium boom was over. As a result, many people left the city in high numbers. By the early 1980s a number of homes stood empty and nearly all the uranium mines had closed. In 1949 the famed Western'' movie director '''John Ford was talked into using the area for the movie Wagon Master. Ford had been using the area in Monument Valley around Mexican Hat, Utah, south of Moab, since he filmed Stagecoach there 10 years earlier in 1939. A local Moab rancher found ford and persuaded him to come take a look at Moab. There have been numerous movies filmed in the area ever since, using the beauty of Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park as backdrops. Since the 1970s, tourism has played an increasing role in the local economy. Partly due to the John Ford movies, the area has become a favorite of photographers, rafters, hikers, rock climbers, and most recently mountain bikers. Moab is also an increasingly popular destination for four-wheelers as well as for BASE jumpers, who are allowed to practice their sport in the area. Moab's population swells temporarily in the spring and summer months with the arrival of numerous people employed seasonally in the outdoor recreation and tourism industries. In recent years, Moab has also seen a surge of second-home owners. The relatively mild winters and enjoyable summers have attracted many people to build such homes throughout the area. In a situation mirroring that of other resort towns in the American West, controversy has arisen over these new residents and their houses, which in may cases remain unoccupied for most of the year. Many Moab citizens are concerned that the town is seeing changes similar to those experienced in Vail and Aspen in neighboring Colorado: skyrocketing property values, a rising cost of living, and corresponding effects on low- middle-income workers.Stiles, Jim Brave New West: Morphing Moab at the Speed of Greed. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 2007."Luxury looms over Moab" High Country News, March 26, 2001. Retrieved 2010-01-15. Sunset Magazine's March 2009 issue listed Moab as one of the "20 best small towns in the West". Geography Moab is located just north of the Colorado River, at at an elevation of 4,025 feet (1227 meters) on the Colorado Plateau. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.6 square miles (9.4 km²), all of it land. Transportation Prior to the construction of the railroad in 1883, Moab was a strategic place to cross the Colorado River. A toll ferry service across the river ended when a permanent bridge was built in 1911. This bridge was replaced with the current bridge in 1955. The highway that uses that bridge has been renumbered multiple times and is presently numbered U.S. Route 191. Moab gained freight railroad access in 1962, when a spur railroad line (now the Union Pacific Railroad's Cane Creek Subdivision) was built to service the Cane Creek potash mine. Moab has never had passanger rail service, although the California Zephyr has advertised service to moap in the past via stops at Thompson Springs (no longer a scheduled stop) Green River or Grand Junction, Colorado. Moab currently does not have regular bus service, although buses and suttle services to Salt Lake City or Grand Junction Colorado are available. Air service is available at Canyonlands Field. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 4,779 people, 1,936 households, and 1,169 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,313.1 people per square mile. There were 2,148 housing units at an average density of 590.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 90.35% White, 0.36% African American, 5.46% Native American 0.29% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.88% from other races, and 1.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.44% of the population. There were 1,936 households out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.10. In the city the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 femailes there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,620, and the median income for a family was $38,214. males had a median income of $35,291 versus $21,339 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,228. About 12.0% of families and 15.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.1% of those under the age of 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over. Education The following public schools serve Moab area Students: *Red Rock Elementary School Grades k-3 *Helen M. Knight Intermediate School Grades 4-6 *Grand County Middle School Grades 7-8 *Grand County High School Grades 9-12 In addition, the following schools have branch campuses in Moab *Utah State University See also *Atlas Uranium Mill *Moab Tailings *Upheaval Dome *Westwater Canyon *The Lion's Back *Slickrock Trail External Links * Official Website of the Moab Travel Council * City of Moab website * Moab Chamber of Commerce * Museum of Moab, Moab Utah * [http://www.moabtimes.com/ Times-Independent, Moab Utah] * [http://canyoncountryzephyr.com/ Canyon Country Zephyr] * Grand County School District Moab public schools * Grand County Utah County Government Services * 7.5' Moab Area topographic map - Utah Geological Survey References Wikipedia Most of the content of this article comes directly from the Wikipedia article on Moab, Utah.